


Lucky

by kimpotato



Series: Awakening [2]
Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Cats, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Home, Mentioned Hwang Minhyun, Pokemon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:19:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22360168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimpotato/pseuds/kimpotato
Summary: Choi Mingi runs after a cat and catches a rare pokemon instead.A companion piece toAwakeningbut can act as a stand-alone.
Relationships: Choi Minki | Ren/Kim Jonghyun | JR
Series: Awakening [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653946
Comments: 22
Kudos: 39
Collections: Spring Blessings (Nu'est 8th Anniversary Fic Fest)





	Lucky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Flamie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flamie/gifts).



> Prompt #9:
> 
> Nerdy shut in meets extrovert spring child. Cat with kleptomaniac tendency was involved. Hilarity ensued. At least one window diving scene is required.

More than a year after the fact, Mingi finally admitted to himself (grudgingly, too!) that maybe, _maybe_ , he had his brother's kleptomaniac Persian cat to thank for everything.

***

_One year ago . . ._

"You can't be serious."

Mingi glared at Minseok, daring him to repeat what he had just said. Because really, who the hell gave him the idea to adopt a prissy cat and then dump it into Mingi's reluctant arms when he got a job promotion?

"I won't have time to take care of Lucky anymore," Minseok explained, regret all over his face. "And I don't want to bring him back to the shelter. He was miserable there."

Mingi took one good look at the feline in his brother's arms and instantly knew they wouldn't get along. 

"Why not bring it to Eomma’s house instead?"

Minseok grimaced. "You know Appa’s allergic to cat fur. _Please_ , Mango,” he pleaded, using his best puppy eyes. “You know I wouldn't do this if I had a choice."

And that was the problem. Mingi knew his brother was telling the truth.

"Fine," he sighed in resignation. "But you better send money for grooming and cat food."

***

Lucky pickpocketed (cat-pocketed?) its first item the same evening Mingi brought it home from his brother’s apartment. 

It was nothing valuable, a useless trinket really, but it did set the stage for the civil war that would ensue between the two housemates. 

It was man versus cat every day.

The cat won almost every time.

***

"I swear to God if you don't give that back I'll shave your fur until you look like a sphynx!"

Mingi could have sworn Lucky smirked, _smirked!,_ before running out the open door. In between its teeth was Mingi's favorite jewelry, a handwoven bracelet given to him back in third year of high school. He had kept it pristine all these years. There was no way he'd let a _kleptomaniac_ cat nick it from him after all this time.

"Lucky!" Mingi bellowed as he chased after the cat outside his home. This was the last straw. He made a mental note to return the blasted feline to his brother the same afternoon, all things be damned.

The Persian cat led Mingi to a merry chase all over the neighborhood. Halfway down the main street Mingi wondered why he was even bothering. Why not just let the cat go? Let it get lost or something? His life would be easier for it.

Then he remembered the bracelet, painstakingly woven by a schoolmate for a home economics project. This made him run faster, keeping an eye on the cat that kept jumping up roofs, trees, and electric posts.

A couple more minutes of running brought Mingi in front of the amusement park. Normally it only took ten minutes from his house to get there, definitely not enough to work up a real sweat. But he had been running after Lucky for the past thirty minutes, coaxing it down roofs, yanking its tail from tree branches, only for it to scratch his face and arms before running off again.

It took Mingi a few minutes to spot the Persian spawn from hell. When he did, he found it in the lap of a young man, possibly the same age as him, sitting on a bench near the line of snack stalls. The damn cat was purring, _purring!_ , at its newfound friend. 

Mingi saw the young man cradling his bracelet in his right hand. But he was now too distracted to even give it the attention it deserved. He instead balked when he realized who Lucky's new pal was.

"Kim Jonghyun-ssi?"

Mingi last saw Jonghyun on their last day of third year high school. They were never close to begin with; Mingi hung out with the popular crowd, and Jonghyun liked to stay by himself. Once in a while Mingi would see him with his classmates Minhyun or Youngmin, but most of the time Jonghyun would be hunched in a corner, reading a manhwa or playing with his DS Lite. 

They did have home economics together, and once became partners for a handweaving project. That was when Mingi received his precious bracelet. He had trouble weaving his own (he was never good with arts and crafts), so Jonghyun ended up doing the work for him. Mingi vowed to keep the bracelet forever. Jonghyun had smiled at him back then, the same way he was smiling now.

“Jonghyun-ssi?” Mingi repeated, shocked at the presence of his former schoolmate. He knew Jonghyun had moved schools before fourth year started.

Jonghyun offered a shy smile as he gently ran his hand over Lucky’s coat. The cat purred and rubbed its nose against him.

“Mingi-ssi. How are you?”

It was so unexpected, how sudden Jonghyun had appeared, that Mingi blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“OMG I caught a rare pokemon!”

Jonghyun blinked, and then laughed. But it wasn’t the insulting, demeaning kind (Mingi was familiar with those). It was a nice giggle, as if Jonghyun had caught the game reference, and was happy with it.

“I guess you did.”

***

He dragged Jonghyun to dinner, Lucky in tow. He would have wanted to bring the damned cat home first, but he saw how his former schoolmate doted on it, scratching it under the chin, giving it a tummy rub, meowing back whenever it made a soft purr.

“When did you get back?” Mingi asked the obvious question as soon as they had settled in their booth. It was the first question he should have asked, instead of _“We have got to eat together!”_ (Well that wasn’t a question, but Mingi refused to dwell on details.)

Jonghyun smiled his small smile that Mingi hadn’t seen in years. “Just yesterday.”

“Are you staying for good?”

Jonghyun shrugged. “Appa got reassigned here, but he might be asked to relocate after a year or two. I haven’t decided yet if I should go with them or just find my own place. It gets tiring to keep moving, after a while.”

That was the longest he’d heard Jonghyun say something in one go. And perhaps because he was so shocked, and what was happening was so surreal, that Mingi blurted out the first thing that popped in his head.

“Then why don’t you move in with me?”

Two hours later, Mingi was giving Jonghyun a tour of his house, showing him the living room, kitchen, and the spare bedroom on the second floor. 

When he had offered Jonghyun to live with him, the young man had blinked, and Mingi wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole.

“I mean, I have my own place, and I could use someone to split the lease with, and . . .” he blubbered on, watching Jonghyun’s curious expression. Finally, to save himself from further humiliation, he covered his face and squeaked, “I’m just being practical, okay!”

He didn’t know what had come over him to offer his place to begin with.

He also didn’t count on Jonghyun actually taking him up on his offer.

“And that’s the whole house,” Mingi announced as they went back to the first floor. “What do you think?” Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Lucky peacefully doing its deed in the litter box. Mingi still hadn’t decided if he should punish it or not. He’d deal with the devil spawn later.

Jonghyun nodded. “I like the place. It’s cozy.” He looked around some more. “Could you give me some time to think about it?”

“Of course!” Mingi tried his best not to sound desperate. “Give me your Kakao so we can talk about it some more.”

Jonghyun smiled. “I don’t have Kakao.”

Mingi frowned. What kind of person doesn’t have a Kakao account? 

“LINE then?” Jonghyun shook his head. “WeChat?” Nope. “Facebook?” Still a no.

Mingi stared unbelievingly. “What rock have you been hiding under all these years?!”

Jonghyun chuckled. “I’ll give you my cell phone number. You can text me there.”

***

After two weeks, Jonghyun moved in.

One month later, _Mingi fell in love._

It wasn’t the sexual kind, no. What Mingi loved most was Jonghyun’s soul, his gentleness, the way he would greet him in the morning and prepare breakfast, before going back to his room to start his work (he worked remotely, something Mingi appreciated but didn’t really have the patience for).

Whenever he got home from work, he would find food on the table, and Jonghyun would be in the living room, reading a manhwa, watching anime, or playing with Lucky. They would eat together, Jonghyun would ask him about his day, and then he would retreat to his room to spend an hour or two playing his newest video game.

It was all so _domestic._

Mingi never saw himself settling down with anyone, but he could picture himself staying with Jonghyun for the rest of his life.

***

Mingi glared at Lucky. Lucky glared back. Between them, Jonghyun slurped his ramyeon contently.

“Put. That. Down,” Mingi hissed, staring at the hair tie in between Lucky’s teeth.

The Persian cat hissed back.

“I said, put that down!”

Lucky sprang away.

_“Goshdangit!”_ Mingi cursed, jumping after it. They chased each other in the kitchen, then in the living room. Throughout all this, Jonghyun quietly continued with his meal.

And just when Mingi thought he’d caught the little rascal, Lucky found salvation.

It jumped out the front window.

Mingi, perhaps fancying himself a feline too, jumped after it.

Five minutes and tens of cuts and bruises later, Mingi remembered that no, he wasn't a cat after all.

“So what did we learn today?” Jonghyun asked as he stuck a band-aid onto Mingi's temple.

“Don’t go jumping into windows to chase after Lucky,” Mingi muttered, wincing as Jonghyun pressed the band-aid to make it stick. “But that was my favorite hair tie!”

Jonghyun chuckled. “Was it worth it though?”

Mingi paused, watching as Jonghyun take another band-aid to stick to his cheek. His eyes were kind, his hands gentle. 

_“Definitely.”_

***

"J-Rie?" Mingi called, knocking on the door. He couldn’t remember when he had started calling Jonghyun that, or when Jonghyun had invented the nickname _Ren_ for him. But it felt right, so he kept on using it, even for his IG and other social media accounts. "Can I come in?" Nobody replied. "J-Rie?" he tried again. "I'm opening the door, okay?"

He turned the knob, pushed open the door, and peeked in. He spotted Jonghyun in front of his computer, deep in concentration. 

"J-Rie, let’s go out."

No acknowledgment.

"It’s a Saturday. I’m bored. Let’s go out."

Still no answer.

"Can I play some music?"

He saw Jonghyun nod ever so slightly.

Mingi opened his Melon account, scrolled down his list of favorites, and clicked “Romantic Cat.” The song always made him want to dance. Seconds later he found himself doing a mini-performance in the room. Belting out at the top of his lungs. Rolling on the floor. Dancing freestyle.

And through it all, Jonghyun paid him no heed.

And as quickly as it started, the song came to a close. Only then did Mingi spot Lucky on Jonghyun’s bed, judging him silently. Mingi blew it a raspberry. “You are not romantic at all.”

***

“Do you think pink would look okay?”

He wanted a change of hair color and, sure, pink might be a bit extreme, but it was something he had been wanting to try for a while now. But more than that, he wanted to make sure first that Jonghyun would approve of it.

“I think any color would look good on you.”

Mingi wrinkled his nose. “I still don’t know.”

Jonghyun put down his manhwa and looked at him thoughtfully. “How about this. I’ll color my hair blue if you color your hair pink.”

Well, Mingi wasn’t expecting that. But he’ll take it. He’ll take anything Jonghyun throws at him.

“You’ll be a real onibugi then! My very own onibugi!”

Jonghyun laughed.

***

“What’s your biggest regret?”

It was a random question, asked after three cans of beer. They were celebrating Mingi's 10,000th IG follower. He had become a real influencer now. 

Jonghyun cradled his can and pressed it against his forehead. He seemed to be considering his answer carefully.

“Leaving Busan back in third year.”

Mingi, in his alcohol-infused state, grinned tipsily. “Because you lost me?”

Jonghyun smiled a small sad smile. “I lost a lot of things then.”

***

Three weeks later, during another drinking session, Jonghyun told him about Minhyun and their complicated friendship. 

Mingi knew Minhyun was one of Jonghyun’s few friends in high school. He just wasn’t aware they had been _that_ close.

“When we had to move to Gangneung, I figured I’d lose contact with everyone here,” Jonghyun explained as he sipped his beer. He always became a bit more talkative after a few drinks. “It wasn’t something new. We’ve moved houses so much I usually didn’t bother making friends anymore. But well, you know how Hyun-ah . . ." An awkward pause that Mingi chose to ignore. "How Minhyunnie could be.”

And Mingi did know. He and Minhyun had been schoolmates since kindergarten. He’d seen it all—how Minhyun would cling to someone he’d set his eyes on. How he'd try to hold on to that person for as long as he could.

He just wasn’t expecting that Minhyun had been like that with Jonghyun, too.

“He came to visit for Christmas, back in fourth year high school. When he moved to Seoul for uni the following year, he invited me to spend Christmas with him there.”

Jonghyun downed the rest of his beer before slumping against the table. Mingi had seen him in different states of sadness before, but this was the first time he'd seen his housemate looking crushed, as if reliving the memory still pained him.

“I waited for hours at the train station, in the middle of a snow storm, for him to pick me up.” Jonghyun smiled bitterly. “He never showed up. I couldn’t even reach him by phone.”

Mingi wasn’t sure what to say. He always had a ready advice for his followers, always a happy quote to brighten up their day, always a pretty picture to cheer them up.

But he didn’t know what to say to Jonghyun there and then.

So he did the next best thing.

He gathered Jonghyun in his arms, tucked Jonghyun’s head in his chest, and just held him close.

The next morning, Mingi woke up on the couch, wrapped around Jonghyun’s still sleeping form. 

At their feet sat Lucky, giving him the stink eye, as if accusing him of stealing its favorite hooman from it.

Mingi stuck out his tongue and went back to sleep.

***

“Hooray!” Mingi cheered as he and Jonghyun toasted their first year of living together. Jonghyun grinned, scratching Lucky’s ear, who was sitting cozily on his lap.

“We should go out and celebrate this occasion, you know,” Mingi fake-pouted.

Jonghyun laughed. He seemed to be laughing more and more these days. It made Mingi glad, gave him a feeling of accomplishment. _I did that. I helped J-Rie become a happy person._

“I have a deadline I need to finish this week,” Jonghyun apologized. “How about we go to the amusement park next weekend?”

Mingi beamed. “I’ll remember that!”

Jonghyun laughed again. And then, in a rare gesture of affection (Jonghyun wasn’t really touchy), he reached out and squeezed Mingi's hand. “Say, Rennie.”

Mingi fought hard to still his rapidly beating heart. “Hm?”

“Thank you for catching me that day.”

Mingi grinned. Had it really been more than a year since he first caught Jonghyun in the amusement park?

He raised an eyebrow at Lucky, who was quietly nuzzling its head against Jonghyun’s tummy. He guessed he should thank the little devil for stealing his bracelet that day.

Squeezing Jonghyun’s hand back, Mingi flashed him a happy smile. He replied, “I got _lucky_.”

###

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, A, for being my first reader. Your side comments never fail to make me laugh.
> 
> And M, for polishing my work. And for (maybe) loving JRen a little bit by the end of it.


End file.
